Soft Machine Star And Prog-rock Legend Kevin Ayers Dead At 68

Kevin Ayers, the founding member of influential British psychedelia band The Soft Machine, has died, aged 68.

The singer-songwriter passed away at his home in France on Monday (18Feb13).

Born in Kent, England, Ayers was raised in Malaysia but educated in the U.K. He formed his first band, The Wilde Flowers, in 1963 with school pals Robert Wyatt and Hugh Hopper. The band became The Soft MAChine when Ayers and Wyatt recruited Mike Ratledge and Daevid Allen in 1966 and the quartet quickly became famous for its ambitious live shows.

The Soft MAChine often shared concert billing with Pink Floyd.

Ayers, Wyatt and Ratledge continued as a trio when Allen left to set up home in France and form Gong, and they made a huge U.S. breakthrough in 1968 when they were invited to support Jimi Hendrix on tour, during which they recorded their groundbreaking eponymous debut, which remains one of the classic prog rock albums.

The pressures of life on the road took its toll on Ayers and he quit the band at the end of their American tour and retreated to Ibiza, where he reunited with Allen and recorded his solo debut album Joy Of A Toy, which featured the tracks Lady Rachel and All This Crazy Gift of Time.

One track, Religious Experience, was recorded with Pink Floyd star Syd Barrett on guitar, but it was not issued until the album was remastered and re-released in 2003.

Spurred on by the success of his debut album, Ayers recruited a backing band, called The Whole World, which featured Lol Coxhill, former Soft MAChine star Wyatt and the young Mike Oldfield. The group went on to record successful albums Whatevershebringswesing, Bananamour and The Confessions Of Dr Dream And Other Stories.

His success was tinged with sadness in 1973 when bandmate and longtime friend Wyatt fell out of an upstairs window at one of Ayers' parties and was left permanently paralysed from the waist down. The rocker also battled substance abuse issues throughout his career.

Ayers' popularity faded in the late 1970s and '80s and he retreated from the music business, only to return in the early 1990s with the album Still Life With A Guitar.

He had to wait until 2007 for critical acclaim following the release of The Unfairground, which featured Hopper, Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera and members of Teenage Fanclub and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. It was to be his final release.